Regulating Driving Automation Safety

85 Pages Posted: 16 Aug 2022 Last revised: 29 Mar 2024

See all articles by Matthew Wansley

Matthew Wansley

Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Date Written: August 15, 2022

Abstract

Over forty thousand people die in motor vehicle crashes in the United States each year, and over two million are injured. The careful deployment of driving automation systems could prevent many of these deaths and injuries, but only if it is accompanied by effective regulation. Conventional vehicle safety standards are inadequate because they can only test how technology performs in a controlled environment. To assess the safety of a driving automation system, regulators must observe how it performs in a range of unpredictable, real world edge cases. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is trying to adapt by experimenting with a novel regulatory strategy. Instead of setting standards, the agency is using its statutory powers in unprecedented ways—ordering automation developers to report crashes daily and directing rapid recalls that require changes to defective software. NHTSA is betting that intense monitoring and the credible threat of recalls will push developers to prioritize safety. This Article argues that NHTSA’s experimental strategy could be transformed into effective safety regulation. Regulators should (1) require that all new vehicles be equipped with telematics that can send safety data and receive software updates over the air; (2) mandate universal crash reporting; and (3) use recalls to force developers of driving automation systems that create unreasonable risks to restrict where their systems can operate until they can develop safer code.

Suggested Citation

Wansley, Matthew, Regulating Driving Automation Safety (August 15, 2022). 73 Emory Law Journal 505 (2024), Cardozo Legal Studies Research Paper No. 689, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4190688

Matthew Wansley (Contact Author)

Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law ( email )

55 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10003
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
977
Abstract Views
3,395
Rank
46,058
PlumX Metrics